I've been a Mac user since the old G3 iBook days. I've had nearly every generation of Apple laptop in the last 8 years and the Air is by far the best. I just switched from a MacBookPro to the Air and love the improvement in size, weight, and screen crispness.
Read the complete reviewUltimately, I'd say that the iPad (or any tablet really) is a luxury device and not essential if you already have an iPhone (or Android smartphone) and a laptop/desktop computer.
The iPad provides more screen real estate for your apps than your mobile, but frankly isn't super "mobile" itself (don't try using one while standing in a crowded subway, for example).
On the other side, it's just not as powerful or flexible as your main computer. I find that I use my iPad mostly for reading books (Kindle app and iBooks) which is something I wouldn't do on the laptop.
I have the wifi only version, but I can see how getting the 3G capable iPad would make this more attractive for traveling.
So ...
Read the complete reviewWe've been using this espresso maker in the office for the last two and a half years. It still works like a champ and pours a great espresso.
Read the complete reviewI don't cook much at all, but come summertime I do like to try my hand at grilling. Being a Midwesterner I love a good brat and my go to is the Johnsonville Beer Brat. This brat has a mildly spicy flavor with a hint of beer and cooks up deliciously soft with a slightly tough skin. You should be able to find these brats in your local grocer's frozen meats section.Since they come frozen, I like to simmer the brats in a good strong pilsner or IPA to impart even more beer flavor before grilling them. You also don't want to throw a frozen brat on the grill! BTW, "beer boiled brats" is a misnomer, you don't want to actually boil them, as you run the risk of ...
Read the complete reviewWell, I did it. I bought an iPhone. I ditched my boring Motorola c290 flip phone (read review here). I went from featureless and plain to bleeding edge and beautiful.iPhone highlights - Activation: I was a Sprint customer whereas iPhone is AT&T only, so I had to break contract. I was really pleased with how smooth this process was. All iPhone activations occur through iTunes software. I had a couple extra steps to fill out regarding my Sprint account info. Amazingly, my iPhone was fully activated and my number was ported within the time it took to transfer over 3Gigs of music!
I picked up one of these teeny tiny 1GB iPod Shuffles this last weekend. I've had the notion of getting one all spring long. I've been spending more time doing yard work than in years past and I like listening to songs on my iPod while outside. Unfortunately that old 30GB iPod of mine is bulky and awkward to carry around while working. (Read my review of that iPod here).
Hence the 1GB Shuffle. I choose a green one (to match my green thumb, naturally!), but they also come in silver, blue, pink, and orange. The mp3 player also comes with a pair of earbuds, and a USB dock for charging and syncing your music. You can optionally buy a wall plug to connect the dock into if...
Read the complete reviewI've had this iPod for nearly 4 years and it's still working great (minus it's deteriorated battery life).
For my money this is still the best user interface on the iPod. I find the row of buttons (back, menu, pause, and forward) above the scroll wheel to be easier to use than the newer models where the buttons are part of the clickable wheel. Additionally, those command buttons have a red light behind them so you can see them in a darkened area. None of the newer models have this feature, to my knowledge.
On the negative side, the battery life has degraded over the years. It's down to about 3 hours of life now (and that's with the backlighting off). In general this is OK beca...
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